How to hire the best appointment setters? | Top 15 job titles to watch out for

Looking out for an appointment setter? Need to know how and where to find the best candidates? Here is a comprehensive guide to finding the best appointment setters. Read on!

How to hire an Appointment Setter?

“What is an appointment setter or What does an appointment setter do?”. An appointment setter is a part of a company’s sales team, providing support to connect to the prospective customers or target audience by leveraging their telemarketing skills.

Scheduling appointments between the salesperson and the customer is one of the primary responsibilities of appointment setters. A professional appointment setter contacts lead through sometimes cold calls to predict the level of interest of the customers in the products or services of a company.

“How to hire appointment setter?”

In this article, we will extensively talk about the job opportunities, skills and qualifications to be verified and questions to be asked while interviewing and hiring appointment setters.

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Hiring market for an appointment setter

The job opportunities of appointment makers have been predicted to remain flat till the year 2026. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics is attributing the reason to the advancements in technology; slowly replacing human resources. Companies are leveraging the latest digital tools and social media platforms to reach out to the leads.

The latest data from BLS shows the annual salary of professional appointment setters as approximately USD 38K. The entry-level salary of freelance or virtual appointment setter is almost USD 23K per annum. With the increase in experience level above 10 years, the annual salary of freelance appointment setters is USD 63K.

Recent trends among outbound appointment setters are to shift too much higher sales roles in the company for higher remuneration and exposure. These trends have also resulted in the decline of the job titles of telemarketing appointment setting services.

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Top 15 recent job titles for appointment setters

Below is a list of the most recent job titles for appointment setters,

1. Real Estate Appointment Setter

Telemarketing firms, real estate sales offices, or financial services firms recruit a real estate appointment setter. The person contacts clients to understand their preferences related to location, budget, timeline and then provides suggestions accordingly. The hourly rate is USD 11 to USD 18.

2. Insurance Appointment Setter

Hired by insurance firms or agencies in setting up outbound calls and convincing customers to engage in a conversation with the insurance sales agents. The services can be related to mortgages, life insurance, health insurance, etc. The hourly rate varies between USD 10 and USD 20.

3. B2B Appointment Setter

Involved in setting up appointment between the sales representatives and clients related to Business to Business line of services. He or she also follows up through phone calls with the potential audience influencing the sales leads. The hourly rate is almost USD 13.

4. B2C Appointment Setter

Involved in setting up appointments between the sales representatives and clients related to the Business to Consumer line of services. The person directly interacts with consumers for fixing the appointments. The hourly rate is almost USD 14.

5. D2C Appointment Setter

Involved in setting up appointment between the sales representatives and clients related to the Direct to Consumer line of services. The person connects with the consumers through an online platform. The hourly rate is almost USD 12.

6. Digital Appointment Setter

Entrusted with the responsibility of cold calling companies in different regions related to the domain or the industrial sector. The person creates appointments between the sales leads or the CEO and the potential customers. The hourly rate is between USD 11 and USD 15.

7. Phone and Internet Appointment Setter

Professionals setting up appointments through phone calls or connecting via internet calling or online mode of communication. They are expected to be proficient in the latest trends and technologies of internet communication. The hourly rate is almost USD 14.

8. Appointment Setting Specialist

Experienced professionals are mainly hired in this role to bring in innovativeness and improvements in the appointment setting strategies and connecting with potential clients. The hourly rate is as high as USD 17.

9. BDC or Front Desk Appointment Setter

Hired by companies specializing in BDC (business development), a fund used for helping firms under financial distress. The person needs to seek appointment from clients or firms that need financial help. The hourly rate is USD 12 approximately.

10. Sales or Marketing Assistant

Assists the salesperson leads or marketing managers in developing strategies for lead generation and earning revenue for the company. The hourly rate is comparatively higher than others, varying between USD 18 and USD 26.

11. Outbound Appointment Setter

Responsible for outbound or cold calling potential clients to check whether they are interested to invest in the products and services and arrange appointments accordingly. The hourly rate varies between USD 10 and USD 15.

12. Telemarketer

A sales representative or appointment setter who mainly communicates through phone calls. They coordinate with the marketing department to understand the sales leads. The hourly rate is between USD 10 and USD 12.

13. Cold Caller

Responsible for connecting with customers who have not been previously communicated or never expressed interest in the goods or services of the company. The hourly rate is between USD 10 and USD 12.

14. Customer Service Representative

The person provides information about a company’s products or services, connects customers with the sales representatives, and even handles queries or complaints. The hourly rate varies between USD 11 and USD 17.

15. Sales Head

With experience and skill, appointment setters can rise up to the position of a sales head. A sales head is responsible for the company’s revenue generation and creates sales action plans accordingly. The hourly rate varies between USD 15 and USD 20.

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Qualifications to look for in appointment setter

You must judge the credibility of an online appointment setter before recruitment by verifying their educational qualifications. The key degrees to check in professional appointment experts are,

• High School Diploma or GED (General Educational Development)
• A Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, Journalism, English, Public relations or Business.
• Master’s Degree in Marketing is an additional boon

The best colleges and universities in the US offering courses related to appointment setter services are enlisted below,

1. Northwestern University located in Evanston in Illinois. The tuition fees are almost USD 27K per year
2. University of Southern California at Los Angeles, CA. The students need to pay an amount of USD 36K per annum
3. University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The annual fees of the university is USD 26K approximately per year
4. Stanford University in California. The yearly tuition fees are almost USD 17K.
5. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The tuition fees are USD 11K per annum
6. Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem at North Carolina. The annual fees are almost USD 27K.
7. Cornell University at Ithaca in New York. The net annual fees are USD 29K
8. The University of Georgia at Athens. Students are expected to pay a fees of USD 16K approximately per annum
9. University of Florida in Gainesville. The fee structure is less about USD 11K per year.
10. Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. The tuition fees are almost USD 22K in a year

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Skills to look for in appointment setter

By now, we are familiar with what’s an appointment setter and what do appointment setters do. The next focus is to understand the skills or qualities to verify while you hire appointment setter. Enlisted below are the key appointment setter skills to check for your quick reference,

1. Understand the concepts of Business to Business Sales (B2B), Business to Consumers Sales (B2C), and Direct to Consumer Sales (D2C)
2. Proficient in the company’s products or services; the features and the functions
3. Capable to convince target or potential consumers through their influencing skills to purchase the products or avail the services of the company
4. Expertise in telemarketing skills for generating sales leads
5. Efficient in conducting extensive research and analysis on the target audience through data collections, surveys, interviews, etc.
6. Excellent listening skills as they need to understand the demands of the consumers and sync with the product features or services offered
7. Capability to work independently from remote locations like from their residences or from co-working spaces.
8. Must have good planning and organizing skills for setting appointments quickly between the salespersons and the customers.
9. Possess expertise in leveraging the audio and video conferencing tools for interacting with the stakeholders as well as organizing online or virtual meetings seamlessly.

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Certifications to look for in appointment setter

To hire for appointment setters jobs, it is good to check if the candidates have undergone any additional certifications or courses for competency enhancement. A list of certifications or courses to check, is detailed below,

1. Online telemarketing courses provided by Oxford Home Study, consisting of 5 modules
2. Telemarketing training offered Globibo with learning courses and exams
3. Fundamentals of telemarketing workshop by Udemy, with learning resources and videos.
4. Telemarketing course offered by Staff Training Solutions Company in the UK.
5. Telesales Training course and Appointment setting training course provided by MTD Sales Training, on the basics and advanced level concepts
6. Free Sales training course on Appointment setting, organized by Proven Sales Training
7. Sales Scripts for appointment setting B2B quick start course by Udemy
8. B2B Marketing Masterclass from Udemy
9. Telesales skills course and guide from Udemy
10. Telephone Sales Training Certification offered by Udemy

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Rate per hour of appointment setter

The hourly rate of professional appointment setting experts is USD 14 on average in the US. The hourly rate of top earners in appointment setter service is nearly USD 23. Appt setters at the entry-level or fewer years of experience normally earn USD 10 per hour. An experienced outbound appointment setter earns USD 15 in an hour.

In the UK, the average hourly rate of appointment setters varies between USD 10 and USD 12. At the entry-level, an appointment generator expert earns almost USD 9 an hour. Experienced outbound appointment setting professionals earn up to approximately USD 17 an hour. In the other European countries, if you need to hire appointment setter, the hourly rates are nearly the same as that of the UK.

Appointment setters needed at cheap rates? India and the other Asian countries are the best options. The average hourly rate of insurance, health services, financial services, or real estate appointment setters is as low as USD 5. The services provided are similar with respect to perfection and quality to those provided in the US, UK, and other parts of the world.

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Top 10 job boards to find best appointment setter

Here is a list of job boards and social media platforms to find appointment setters and appointment setter companies. It is always recommended to go through appointment setting services reviews before the hire.

1. Upwork – One of the largest job boards to post jobs in contract, full time or part time mode of employment.

2. unremot.com – Enables you to gain access into a global workforce to hire appointment setter.

3. Indeed – The popular job website containing profiles of a huge pool of freelance professionals and best appointment setting companies.

4. AngelList – Recommended job board to hire appointment setters from its huge talent pool of resources.

5. Fiverr – If you need the best appointment setter job profiles, Fiverr is the right place for you to hire them.

6. We Work Remotely – The job board is prominent and well known to recruit professionals as per the appointment setter job description

7. Craigslist – Great place to hire outbound appointment setting experts for your company

8. Facebook – If you are looking for the best social media platform to hire appointment setter, Facebook is the perfect place for you.

9. LinkedIn – One of the biggest job websites connecting companies and candidates, ideal for recruiting as per the appointment setter definition of jobs.

10. Glassdoor – A prominent job website to look for freelance profiles as per your appointment setter description of jobs

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Top 10 companies hiring appointment setter and salaries offered

We are now conversant on what is a appointment setter and appointment setter meaning. Let us now find out the companies hiring such professionals. The entry-level salary provided by the companies usually ranges between USD 10 and USD 12 per hour.

1. Orange Elephant Roofing & Const LLC, in Denver, normally hire real estate appointment setting service professionals or companies
2. BMG Creative, a leading multi-media company in South Florida
3. Arctic Air, specializing in providing maintenance and repair services on HVAC systems, present in New Jersey
4. Ax Marketing, one of the largest solar providers for residences in the US. It is headquartered in Dallas.
5. ARS-Rescue Rooter, pioneering in providing world-class residential services, is headquartered in Seattle
6. Vista Home Improvement, in Massachusetts, hires appointment setting call center professionals
7. Gander Outdoors, a retail chain for hunting, fishing, camping, etc. products, and services. Located in Minnesota.
8. Blue Yonder, a leading software and consultancy company, in Arizona
9. Max Home LLC, a manufacturer for office furniture, located in Houston
10. DaBella, leading home improvement services provider at Salt Lake City.

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Top 10 interview questions for appointment setter

An important part of the hiring process for appointment setters is to ask the right questions to the candidates to judge their credibility. Here is a comprehensive list of interview questions and the expected answers for your reference,

1. Which products or services have you focused on for generating sales leads in your past experiences?

Rationale: To gauge the expertise of the candidate on the domain or niche, while connecting with the potential customers.

Expected Answer: Ensure the candidate speaks about the industrial domain with some examples for authenticity.

2. Define cold calling

Rationale: A mandatory question to ask since most of the appointment setters need to be involved in cold calling.

Expected Answer: The candidate must focus on the fact of calling customers who were not connected before or expressed zero interest earlier.

3. How do you prepare yourself before calling a potential customer?

Rationale: To check whether the candidate performs adequate homework before establishing the connection.

Expected Answer: Check if the candidate focuses on analyzing the customer behavioral characteristics and preferences based on data collected, surveys or interviews conducted.

4. Which are the best practices or winning techniques of convincing the clients on the products or services?

Rationale: To judge whether the candidate is an expert in persuading the customers for investment or purchase.

Expected Answer: The candidate must focus on being friendly and courteous, engage in face-to-face or phone calls, showcasing the best features of the products or services etc.

5. How do you maintain the record of calls made daily?

Rationale: To verify the planning and organizing skills of the candidate in executing the work.

Expected Answer: The candidate must speak about using any specific project management software for creating tasks and take notes against the task.

6. How do you deal a situation when the customer continuously cancels the appointment?

Rationale: To validate the candidate’s quick thinking power and analytical ability to face unforeseen situations.

Expected Answer: Check the candidate focuses on finding out the root cause and resolve it as to why the customer is reluctant for the calls.

7. How many calls a day have you handled on an average?

Rationale: To check the capacity and credibility of the candidate in placing calls and closing them.

Expected Answer: 150 t0 200 calls per day is a good number to consider for the recruitment.

8. How do you handle a circumstance where a customer hesitates in answering and responding to your calls?

Rationale: To verify the candidate’s power to handle stressful situations.

Expected Answer: Focusing on apologizing or making convincing statements are the expected answers.

9. Elaborate on your phone etiquette

Rationale: To test the interpersonal skills of the candidate.

Expected Answer: Demonstrating confidence, professional attitude, positive replies are some of the etiquettes to be considered.

10. How do re-schedule or postpone appointments if the salesperson is forced into an emergency situation?

Rationale: A question again to judge the candidate’s ability to handle unexpected circumstances.

Expected Answer: The candidate must specify about calling and pleasing the client for the call postponement.